Senior Data Architect in Leeds

Location: Leeds (Hybrid / UK-based with travel)

Employment Type: Full-time, Permanent

Our client is seeking an experienced Senior Data Architect to join their digital consultancy practice. This role sits within multidisciplinary delivery teams responsible for designing and delivering user‑centred digital solutions that enable organisations to make evidence‑based decisions and unlock value from their data.

The Senior Data Architect will work closely with clients and delivery teams to design, implement, and govern robust data architectures that integrate effectively with business processes and enterprise systems.

Responsibilities

• Define data architectures that meet the needs of diverse stakeholders while aligning with enterprise‑wide data and technical strategies.
• Design, build, and maintain enterprise architecture artefacts, including entity relationship models, data dictionaries, ELT/ETL definitions, and data pipeline and lineage models.
• Act as the accountable authority for architectural decisions, providing clear rationale to clients and delivery teams.
• Define and implement governance approaches to ensure the ongoing integrity of data architecture artefacts.
• Champion data security principles, embedding appropriate security and access controls into all data strategies.
• Establish and enforce data modelling standards to ensure consistency across solutions and the wider enterprise.
• Evaluate and analyse APIs, data sources, and sample responses for quality, integrity, and suitability.
• Reverse‑engineer data models from existing live systems where required.
• Create agile user stories and support engineering teams throughout solution implementation.
• Support third‑party suppliers in defining specifications to ensure system compatibility and integration.
• Support integration and reconciliation testing activities.
• Visualise insights using industry‑standard reporting and analytics tools.

Requirements

• Proven experience designing and defining data architectures for organisations with varied stakeholder needs and data maturity levels.
• Strong understanding of data lake and data warehouse principles, with hands‑on delivery experience on platforms such as Snowflake or Databricks.
• Experience working with at least one major cloud provider (AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform).
• Good understanding of role‑based access control and its application within secure data architectures.
• Excellent data modelling skills, including the design of data warehouses and datamarts.
• Experience migrating data from legacy on‑premise systems to cloud‑based architectures.
• Strong knowledge of OLTP and OLAP principles, with evidence of delivering solutions using both.
• Experience developing and evolving entity relationship models, data dictionaries, and ELT/ETL models.
• Ability to visualise data and insights using tools such as Power BI (including custom DAX) and/or Tableau.
• High proficiency in SQL; experience with SQL Server, SSMS, SSIS, and SSRS is advantageous.
• Ability to test and interrogate APIs using tools such as Postman.

Competitive salary with transparent pay ranges. Contributory pension scheme with enhanced employer contributions. 25 days annual leave plus UK public holidays. Life assurance, critical illness cover, and death‑in‑service benefits. Flexible benefits package including private medical and dental cover, additional pension contributions, wellbeing allowance, and additional annual leave. Salary sacrifice schemes including cycle‑to‑work and electric vehicle options. Employee discounts platform and wellbeing support initiatives. Volunteer days and community engagement opportunities. Relocation support package of up to £8,000 (subject to terms and conditions).

Application Process

Candidates are encouraged to apply with an up‑to‑date CV outlining relevant data architecture, cloud, and consultancy experience. Shortlisted applicants will be contacted to discuss the role in more detail and to outline the next stages of the recruitment process.